Raising the bar for cross-border payments in Spain

Over the past decade, Spain has become one of Europe's leading markets for instant payments. Now, the Spanish banking community is applying many of the same principles to cross-border transactions, extending the speed, predictability and transparency of domestic payments into the international environment.

Through its collaboration with Iberpay and participation in initiatives such as the Swift payments scheme, the Spanish banking community is demonstrating how existing infrastructure can be combined in new ways to improve the cross-border payments experience.

In doing so, Spain is demonstrating an approach that could be relevant far beyond a single market. Rather than relying on bespoke connections between individual institutions, the focus has been on building reusable capabilities that can be adopted across the industry, helping strengthen the links between domestic instant payments and international payment networks.

A market-wide approach

Since 2021, Swift and Iberpay, which manages Spain's national retail payment system, have worked together to explore how the country’s domestic payment capabilities could be connected to international payment flows to create a seamless, instant experience for cross-border transactions.

The focus has been on building reusable capabilities that can be adopted across the industry. In that sense, Spain's model is built on standards that can be replicated by banks and market infrastructures across the Swift network.

Success in motion

In 2024, Iberpay became the first European payment system to process One-Leg-Out transfers under the European Payments Council’s OCT Inst scheme, which enables instant account-to-account payments into and out of the SEPA area by connecting international payment flows with domestic instant payment infrastructure.

That same year, the Spanish financial community became the first in Europe to adopt the OCT Inst framework on a majority basis, with 94% of the Spanish market connected. Through Iberpay's infrastructure, domestic instant payment capabilities can be connected to international payment flows both into and out of Spain.

That infrastructure is already demonstrating its capacity in live operations. Between January and June 2026, more than 17,000 international instant transfers were processed into Spain, originating from 102 countries and channelled through 544 originating financial institutions to 75 participating institutions in Spain. Beneficiaries typically receive funds within 10 seconds.

These figures demonstrate how a market-wide approach can translate innovation into live customer outcomes and reflect the continued development of Swift's global network and Iberpay's instant payment rails.

From domestic success to global reach

Throughout Swift and Iberpay’s ongoing collaboration, customer expectations for cross-border payments have continued to rise. One way that Spanish financial institutions are addressing this challenge is through Swift's payments scheme.

Spain's progress has been enabled by the complementary roles played by Iberpay's One-Leg-Out infrastructure and Swift's payments scheme. Together, they connect domestic instant payment capabilities with international payment networks to deliver a faster and more predictable cross-border payment experience.

Spanish banks including BBVA, Santander and CaixaBank are participating in the payments scheme, a global initiative designed to ensure consistently fast, predictable and transparent payments worldwide.

Today, Spain is already connected to international payment corridors including Australia, China, Türkiye and the United States through the scheme, demonstrating the growing reach of the initiative.

A model for the future

Spain's experience shows how existing infrastructure can be combined in new ways to meet changing customer expectations.

By strengthening the links between domestic instant payments and international payment networks, the Spanish financial community is demonstrating an approach that could help other markets deliver faster, more transparent and more predictable cross-border payments.